Sunlight
by theunhappytwins
Summary: "Piko? I'm tired. Really tired." Oneshot, Mipiko.


**AN: So, internet was all funky, and I had to write this in Word.**

**Which I heartily dislike doing.**

"Piko?"

"Yeah, Miki?"

"I'm tired. So tired."

"I know, Miki. I know."

_"Hey, Piko!" The redhead smiled at her friend, running towards him under the arch. _

_He nods. "Hey."_

_Her rainboots squelched on the sidewalk, her red hair vibrant in the gloom. "I kinda need to go over to your house…"  
He frowns. "Why? Are you okay?"_

_"The sunlamps in my district broke."_

_Piko had already pulled out his phone. "What about your parents?"_

_"They're going to a hotel, but I asked if I could go over to your place, and they said-"_

_"Fine."  
She threw her arms around him. "Yay!"_

"Just…stay awake, okay?"

"Yeah…"

She yawned.

"Stay…awake…"

"Stay awake. They're going to come find us any time soon, okay?"

"Yeah…"

_The red-haired girl leaned against her silver-haired friend. "It's so _dark."

_"As opposed to?"_

_She laughed. "I don't know! Mom and Dad talk about the sun a lot, though." Her tone turned wistful. "Mom says she saw it when she was a little kid."_

_Piko sighed. "So does mine. And my dad. Won't help me see it, anyway."_

_"Avanna says she's seen the sun."_

_"Avanna says she understands Neon Genesis Evangelion."_

_Miki laughed. "True that! But…someday, Piko, I'd really like to see the sun. Avanna said she saw it when she went out of the City…."_

_"When do I need to remind you that Avanna lies?"_

_"Don't be such a spoilsport, Utatane!" She punched him playfully in the shoulder._

"Will I see the sun when we get back?"

He clutched her hand. It was freezing. "Yes…yes, Miki. We'll see the sun…"

She yawned again. "You sure I can't go to sleep?"

"You can't, Miki. Talk to me about…something?"

"Wha…"

"Like, frogs. Did you know that-"

"Frogs are boring…I wanna talk about something else…"

_The two stood under the awning, in the front of school._

_"Piko. I need you to promise me something."_

_"What?"_

_"When…when we get older, I need you to take me to see the sun."_

_"Why?" His heterochromatic eyes widened. "There isn't anything wrong with this."_

_"Yeah, but…I want to see the sun. All this grey and rain is boring…" She stood on her tiptoes to tower over him, wrapping her arms around his neck._

_"Promise me that, okay?"_

_He wrapped his arms around her. "I promise."_

"Okay, Miki, what do you want to talk about?"

"The sun. Tell me 'bout the sun…"

_"Piko!"_

_"What is it?"_

_"So, I think I found a way we could see the sun!" She grinned, punching the air._

_Piko smiled. Despite his initial misgivings, he'd been caught up in Miki's enthusiasm. "What is it?"_

_"So, I was talking to my cousin Len, and he figures that if we go outside the city, the clouds might clear up!"_

_Piko sighed. "And how do we do that? We need a permit to go outside the city…"_

_Miki grinned wickedly. "Who said we were going to get a permit?"_

"About….the sun?"

"Yeah…and…what it's gonna be like…once we see it…"

_Piko gritted his teeth._

_Miki was coming._

_They were going to go on a train after curfew, and get out of the city on that._

_This was his last chance to back out of Miki's plans._

_To live a normal life, without ever seeing the sun.  
He opened the window, and climbed out._

"Well, it's going to be warm…"

"Warm…" she echoed.

"And white, like in all of the pictures."

_Miki was wearing a simple blue dress._

_"Because the sun's going to warm us up," she explained. "We won't need all these heavy raincoats!"_

_However, as the two snuck out of the city, it was still raining outside._

"And it's going to be bright. Much brighter then the sunlamps. And the sky's going to be blue. Bright blue. Like robin's eggs."

"Like your eyes…"

_The rain poured down-cold, hard, and merciless._

_Piko held on to Miki's cold hand._

_"Are you okay? Should we go back?"_

_"N-No…We have to see the sun! Keep going!"  
They'd kept going, even when Miki turned white._

_Even now that she was too cold to walk, so cold that she thought she was warm._

"And when night comes…." When would the helicopters he'd called _come? _They had to come, they had to take him to the city and Miki to the hospital… "The sky will be blue, only like _your _eyes. And it will be filled with stars."

"Pretty…"

"Yes. It will…be very pretty…"

"Hey, Piko?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think I'm gonna die?"

He pulled her closer to him. "Not on my watch."

The gray sky was empty.

He felt the girl he loved's heartbeat slowing.

"I'm really tired, Piko."

"No, Miki. You can't close your eyes. You can't go to sleep."

"So…tired…."

He noticed the rain beginning to slow.

"I think…I'll close my eyes…"

"Miki?"

The rain had halted.

"Miki, look at the sky…"

The red-haired girl's half-closed eyes opened, and she looked up.

The clouds were beginning to clear.

"Hey…Piko…look…"

Something shone down on them.

Piko's eyes hurt as he looked at it, and tears of pain ran down his cheeks.

A strange warmth bathed him.

As they looked up at the sun, Miki's breathing stopped.


End file.
